Georgia 2

Wednesday May 7

We started with the Begrati Church in Kutaisi, part of which dates back to the 4th century:

This church was designated a UNESCO world heritage site.  It lost this designation because of the restoration effort, which included the glass wing you see on the left.   (The wing was for an elevator that was never built.)

Next we saw the Gelati Monastery, dated 1106, and known for its frescoes:

  

Leaving Kutaisi, we passed this whimsical fountain:

All of the animals are giant-size copies of ancient items now in the Tbilisi museum.


After lunch, we visited Vani, a huge archaeological site in the ancient area of Colchis.  The stratification of cultural deposits goes down several meters.

Most of the structures were made of wood, which does not survive. This cult altar is the most impressive remain:

Vani was established in the 8th century BCE.  It was destroyed by invaders around in the first century BCE.  The archaeologists have not figured out who did this, or why.  The area was resettled and later abandoned, circa 150 AD.

We visited the former museum.  As noted above, the regional museums in Georgia have been emptied out.  The best artifacts are in the Tbilisi History Museum.  The rest are kept in storage.  This museum is a repository for this site.

The man above was our archaeological expert, Gocha Tsetskladze.

We stayed at the Bakuriani Ski resort built by German interests circa 2006-07.

Lunch:  eggplant with walnut sauce, beans with walnut sauce, salad, bean stuffed bread, veal shish kebab, and more.  Cannot remember dinner.


Thursday, May 8

We had a long ride through the Georgian countryside, which provides a suitable place to comment about the Georgian economy.  Georgia currently has no relations with Russia, which has occupied about 20% of its territory, Abkhazia and S. Ossetia.  Also, unlike Armenia, Georgia had no history of massive emigration prior to the collapse, so remittances from workers abroad are just beginning to have an impact.  Many people who once had Russian educations and socialist-type jobs now find the factories closed and their skills unneeded.  Altogether, Georgia's population, which peaked close to 6 million, now stands at 4.5 million.


The towns outside Tbilisi have knots of unemployed and a truly vast amount of empty, decaying structures.

We pass Atskuri, a fort.

Our major destination was the Vardsia cave monastery complex:

 

 

Tamara (1184-1213) ascended the throne at the age of about 16.  She was the sole ruler for many years.  She led her troops into battle.  For these reasons she is known as "king Tamara".  She reigned over the golden age of the Georgian kingdom and was responsible for many buildings.  This monastery was started by her father and continued by her.  For her activities, she was sainted by the Georgian Church.  (It is a feature of the Georgian church that it has "secular saints." It is not their contributions to religion, but to the state for which they were sainted. King Tamara and David the Builder are examples).

Lunch.  Vadias  home made wine, trout from river, khatchpuri with homemade cheese

Virtually every meal includes khatchpuri. It is a bread stuffed with cheese. It looks a bit like a large pita. We find that the quality of the dish relates to the cheese used; the bread part is usually quite good.  

Anyone with a few square meters plants grapes.  And in the basement, large terracotta pots are sunk into the ground.

These pots are where the wine is fermented.  It is transferred to other pots to rid it of sediment.  We were at least twice treated to homemade wine. We enjoyed it very much.

Late return.  Unremarkable dinner.

The Georgians are very proud of their water. They have scads of lakes and rivers. All their power is hydroelectric.  They are starting to export power. We went to Borjomi, which has famous "curative" water.  We have been drinking the tap water.


Friday May 9

We started a with the cave city of Uplistsihke, which had been cut out of the rock.  The site was occupied from the early bronze to around 1500.  It declined as the Silk Road was supplanted by the newly discovered ocean routes.   

The site is very dramatic, but not made convenient for visitors - parts with no railings, using grooves in the rock as paths.  Leslie was given a minder who showed her the best way and he helped immensely.  The site requires a local guide.  When we were done, our archaeology expert explained her errors.

There was a new museum at the site.  The modest collection of ceramic pots and early iron nails was nicely displayed.  Thee were pictures of the really good stuff as it is sent to Tbilisi.

The khatchapuri at lunch was a new one, Ossetian, with potatoes and an unfamiliar cheese.  Smoked fish salad.  Ground beef kebabs.   Lots of fruits.

We stopped at the Stalin Museum in Gori.  This substantial structure was built around the site of his one-room birthplace.

The museum is grand.

The gift store:

Today was Victory Day.  Veterans of WWII are celebrated.  Georgia and Armenia each contributed hundreds of thousands of troops to defeat the Nazis. About half were lost.

Finally, we stopped at Svetitskhoveli (1010-29).  It is famed for the tomb of Sidonia. Sidonia, the only Jewish woman buried in an Orthodox Church, was given the robe of the crucified Jesus and she died from the emotional trauma of holding it.  The mourners could not pry the robe from her grasp, even in death, so she was buried with the robe.  A cedar tree was planted on her grave.  Centuries later, in Georgia, the first Christians began to build a church, using the wood from the tree.  When one of the beams began to glow, the building site became a pilgrimage destination.  This is the icon of Sidonia.

While we were there, the clergy had a ceremony to celebrate the movement of an icon traveling to another church.  

The procession was accompanied by a vigorous ringing from the bell tower.

The icon was on a visit from the US and is doing a tour of Georgian churches before going home.